The ashstorm had passed by dawn. A brittle calm settled over the Shattermarch, broken only by the distant groan of shifting stone and the mechanical rhythm of walking fortresses.
Kian stood on Echo-Ward's observation deck, gazing out toward the horizon. There, clinging to a shattered ridgeline of pale rock, floated the broken remnants of a city. Not on the ground—but suspended in the sky, its buildings impaled on iron chains that stretched from mountain to mountain like a broken harp.
Frostveil?
No. This place was older. Not even on the Codex's map.
A scrap of text blinked into his vision, one that hadn't shown up since the Bone Marcher fell:
[Codex Entry Recovered: Skyhook Citadel (Defunct)]
Status: Derelict / Forbidden Entry
Former Function: Blueprint Repository
Last Signal Received: 143 years ago
"Looks like a graveyard," Gellon muttered, stepping up beside Kian, squinting at the impossible structure. "For buildings that died trying to reach the sky."
Kian nodded. "It was a Skyhook city. Gravity-bound anchors across fault lines. Meant to float, fight, and store rare schematics."
"And now?"
"Now… it's unclaimed."
He traced a Codex glyph into the air. A faint pulse came from the distance—flickering blue runes still active within the floating towers.
An hour later, Harrowforge anchored at the ridgeline while Echo-Ward extended a bridge. The team crossed carefully, boots clinking against the metal path suspended over a bottomless ravine.
Veyna, Kess, Gellon, and Jerie followed Kian toward the city's main dome—its walls cracked, but glowing faintly from within.
Inside, old Codex sigils flickered on cracked glass. Machines stirred faintly in the dust. Long-dead drones sat rusted in walls, and a wind howled like the ghosts of old architects.
[System Alert]
Codex Core detected nearby
Status: Inactive, but partially functional
"Do you feel that?" Kess whispered, her runes tingling. "There's memory in the air. Heavy. It remembers being alive."
Kian nodded. "The Codex here isn't dead. Just… forgotten."
As the team moved deeper, mechanical wings unfolded above them. Dozens of figures dropped down—robes made of blueprint parchment, armor sewn from shattered processor plates.
"Halt," one said, voice metallic. "This zone is sacred."
Kian raised his hand slowly. "We don't mean to steal from your graveyard. Only to study what remains."
The leader stepped forward, mask clicking open to reveal a woman's scarred face. "I am Sarre of the Scrapbound. And you have stepped into a holy ruin."
"You're architects?" Gellon asked.
"No," Sarre said. "We are readers. You build new things. We protect the old."
Sarre led them into a former blueprint vault—a cylindrical chamber filled with floating scrolls, all suspended by anti-grav fields. The room pulsed softly with power.
"We believe these scrolls dream," Sarre said. "And to wake one is to risk rewriting the world."
Kess was awed. "You don't use the systems?"
Sarre: "We remember them. Systems betrayed us. We chose memory."
Kian asked the question that had been building: "Have any of you met others with… hybrid signs?"
Sarre's face darkened. "Yes. One passed through weeks ago. He killed one of our guardians. Left with a scroll of impossible design. Called himself the 'Architect of Ruin.'"
Kian's breath caught.
The echo-path had opened. His opposite had been here already.
To earn trust—and access a nearby Codex shard—Kian agreed to a duel against one of Sarre's guardians. Not to the death, but to submission.
The opponent: Rhadir, a blueprint-channeler who uses projected constructs mid-fight.
Rhadir formed hard-light spears from floating scrolls Kian summoned Codex anchors and predictive glyphs Veyna shouted from the sideline: "Left! Use the chain glyph!"
The fight raged across suspended platforms.
[Skill Used: Tactical Chain Latch]
Kian latched to Rhadir mid-leap and redirected his momentum
[Codex Rank-Up: Precision Anchor II unlocked]
With a final strike, Kian disarmed Rhadir without serious injury—then offered him a hand.
Rhadir took it. "You build differently. You listen to what you make. Not just command it."
Sarre nodded in approval. "You may take one scroll. But choose wisely. Each one changes the future."
Kian selected the oldest scroll—tattered and half-sealed.
[Codex Relic Acquired: Scroll of Fracture]
Effect: Grants access to terrain-reshaping constructs
Warning: Stability is questionable. Requires mental fortitude.
He held it for a moment and felt something… stir inside his systems.
[Codex: Fracture Node unlocked.]
[Predation: Curious.]
Kess laid a hand on his arm. "You okay?"
He nodded slowly. "I don't think this place is done with us yet."
Later that night, Sarre warned him privately:
"The Architect of Ruin… he was kind. Charismatic. But he left something behind. Something that watches."
"If you open that scroll," she said, "he'll know."
Next Destination: Frostveil Enclave
ETA: 3 days' march
New Objective: Unlock Fracture Node
Warning: Echo anomalies rising in nearby region
End of Chapter 20